Handle-stop for railway car side doors



Dec. 19, A LL HANDLE STOP FOR RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOORS Filed Sept. 8, 1930 fnvezzzor:

Patented Dec. 19, 1933 UNITED STATES HANDLE-STOP FOR RAILWAY CAR SIDE Arthur E. Small, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Railway Metal Products Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application September 8, 1930. Serial No. 480,316

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a railway box car having a door opening in a side wall thereof and a slidable door arranged to close the opening. Such a door is supported by hangers from a track positioned above the door or by brackets slidably engaging a track positioned below the door or by brackets mounted on the car below the door, which engage a track secured to the door. Such hangers and brackets are usually provided with anti-friction rollers.

The object of the invention is to mount a handled member upon the door so that when being used to move the door the handled member clears the brackets and allows free movement of the door, but when the door is in any one of several predetermined positions the handled member, upon release, falls by gravity into engagement with one of the brackets to retain the door in such predetermined position; for instance, the engagement of the handled member with the bracket may be used to 'retain the door in a closed position; in full open position or in partially open and partially closed position, the last mentioned position being used when the car is transporting perishable freight, such as fruits or vegetables, and provides a certain amount of ventilation in the car.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the relation of the handle and brackets when the door is in closed position.

Fig. 2 shows the preferred form of my invention.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a modified form.

Fig. 6 is a section on line 66 of Fig. 4.

In the drawing the usual parts of the car are shown, such as side sill 1; floor support 2; flooring 3; door 4 and lower door stiffener 6.

The drawing shows a door 4 wherein the brackets 10, 11, 12 and 13 are mounted upon the side sill 1 and support the door in case of failure of the usual supports of the door and furthermore, hold the door close to the car by engaging the depending fiange 15 of the lower stiffener 6. Other similar brackets (not shown) guide the door when in open position.

The handled member 18 is pivotally mounted upon the car to swing only in a plane substantially parallel to the door, such handled member being so arranged that when in elevated position it clears the brackets 10, 11, 12 and 13 and allows the door to be moved but when released it drops by gravity into the lowered position and engages the brackets and restricts the movement of the door. The brackets and the handled member I I may be so positioned relative to each other as to retain the door in any predetermined position, such as full open position; full closed position or partially open position.

I preferably provide the handled member 18 with a notch 20 which when in engagement with a portion 22 of one of the brackets, prevents the movement of the door in either direction, andI also prefer to provide oppositely inclined surfaces 2426 positioned on either side of the notch 20 which are arranged to engage a convenient part of the bracket and automatically raise the handle until the notch 20 drops into engagement with a portion of the bracket.

Means are provided to restrict the upward movement of the handled member so that it cannot be raised beyond a point where it would not automatically fall into lowered position when released. In Fig. 2 this is accomplished by the shoulder engaging a part of the fulcrum bracket 32 for the handle. A shoulder 34 is also provided which engages the other fulcrum bracket 36 to restrict the downward movement of the handle. However, the bracket may be used to restrict such downward movement.

In the construction shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 the handled member is provided with an arcuate slot 40 which engages a pintle 42 mounted upon the door which is arranged to restrict both the upward and downward movements of the handle. In this modification the depending flange 15 of the stiffener 6 engages a rail 44 which supports the door either directly or by means of rollers. The track 44 is supported by the supports 46 and the bracket-stop 48 is secured to the track.

The handled member may be made of an integral casting or of a handle mounted upon a base plate which in turn is pivoted to the door.

In my co-pending application Serial No. 468,880, filed July 18, 1930, I have disclosed and claimed the broad idea of a handle pivotally mounted upon a slidable door so as to engage a bracket mounted upon the car to retain the door in a predetermined position.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the .scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

In a railway car, a handled-stopping device for use with a slidable door; said device comprisin either direction toward said bracket one of said inclined surfaces engages said bracket and swings the member upwardly until the notch drops into engagement with the bracket whereby horizontal movement of the door in either direction is prevented. ARTHUR E. SMALL.

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